tv Inside Story Al Jazeera February 7, 2021 2:30pm-3:01pm +03
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family and friends they were. just every year of before witnessing his son. past the hour on al-jazeera these are the headlines india fears up to 150 people are dead after part of a himalayan collapsed and sent a torrent of water rushing down to rivers in utter con state evacuations are under way and the army has been deployed to help from elizabeth purana on the line from new delhi. around 20 workers stranded in a tunnel near the day when the rescue operation is underway there local officials have told indian media that 100 to 150 people may have been killed in the 1st clash . because some bodies they flooded and destroyed many harmes on the riverbank to
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keep the bridge the ahead of jewish market area has been washed away by plot and disaster response force has said that 150 laborers working at that issue got a project which was hit by a flood of missing they haven't been able to get a hold of them and authorities are really concerned about the number. who are employed at ongoing graden and road projects and in the area there are headlines internet access partially restored in me in ma where thousands of people are risking arrest to attend protests against the military coup for a 2nd day astra zeneca says it's working to adapt its coded 1000 vaccine against a variant 1st identified in south africa a new study shows its efficacy could be significantly reduced by mutation though it is only based on a small trial. israel started lifting its strictest coronavirus lockdown restrictions some businesses are able to reopen including takeaway food services
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and addresses the month long lockdown was the 3rd time the countries shut shops and kept people home for an extended period a ban on air travel remains in place but african leaders are meeting for the 2nd final day of the virtual african union summit pandemic dominating the agenda while mass vaccinations have begun in other parts of the world the role that has been slowed in africa and political factions in haiti split over just when the new president is to take office the current president morey's says he still has another year in power the opposition those say his term ends on sunday my lot for the day thanks to accompany the latest edition of inside story is next.
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a promise of a new dawn for libya rival factions agree to form a unity government and hold elections in december but will the warring sides and their foreign backers allow this latest attempt at peace to succeed this is inside story. hello and welcome to the program. 10 years of war has left libya divided with 2 rival governments and armed groups battling each other now there's a promise of a new beginning the warring sides have selected an interim prime minister and a presidential council to form a unity government until elections in december the united nations which mediated
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the process is calling it a chance at national reconciliation libyans are cautiously optimistic despite the failure of previous attempts at peace now the traina reports from tripoli. in what the u.n. is calling a historical vote participants of the libyan political dialogue for voted in a new transitional government their objective lead libya to parliamentary and presidential elections in december this is a moment for historic compromise for reaching we've already seen it people are reaching across the divide. you know the guarantee is that what you are doing now will. serve your people libya has been golden conflicts for the last 10 years since an armed revolution toppled longtime leader moammar gadhafi in 2011 and april 2019 just days before a un facilitated national conference warlord khalifa haftar began
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a military campaign in tripoli with support from egypt russia and the u.a.e. in june 2020 they were forced to retreat towards eastern libya after the u.n. recognized government with turkish support retook western libya here in tripoli most people are hopeful that this transitional government can make some changes. the government will have a launch task at hand it will not be easy we have there will be able to make some changes but because it is such a short term i doubt they'll be able to dig. into how about one of the only thing we want from this government is for it to bring us elections we want the decision through who holds power to return to the people although hopeful some have doubts that the elections can take place so the last government was supposed to stay in power for one year but they've been in power for over 5 years i hope they stick to their promise and help the average citizen and provide basic services after years
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of violence and political divisions most libyans want something to believe and to hope for and for now many hope that this new transitional government can leave a reconciliation process and bring about elections now traina al-jazeera tripoli turkey russia france and italy have welcomed the agreement but those same countries have given military support to rival sides in the conflict the eastern government in libya which is allied with warlord khalifa haftar says it's time for foreign intervention to end. on a cruise a move to believe we shouldn't forget that foreign forces are on libyan soil occupying some all corners of the earth all the world's intelligence and the mercenary sic aim from all over the world and we have to get rid of them and this mission a task of the new interim government's prime minister will not be easy if nobody stands with him and that. all right let's bring in our guest from london and commodity special envoy the government of national accords prime
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minister fayyad 1 as a surprise to the market of countries in istanbul and i said commodity founder and director of saud that institute libya's 1st independent think tank and in vienna wolfgang a security and policy analyst and former austrian defense attache to libya thank you all for joining us jamal let me start with you today what's the reaction been thus far across the political spectrum in libya and where does this new interim government leave things for politicians like yourself and other politicians. well i think from what we've heard yesterday and today that action has been somewhat to relieve possibly especially in the west of libya especially among those who are support of the a g. and a 0 and of what we call aspiring to set up a democratic state and libya and aborts the military option which is the represented by have turned other sites so those have been relieved they have been.
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damaged in some joy as well i did some relief because there was one certain list that did not win that what they were there were fearful that the list hated headed by iraqi might win as has been predicted by many. analysts and it did not win because that would have been very controversial very divisive and possibly make things worse rather than than than better and there were many many forces on the ground especially in that was to libya who said they could not entertain seeing somebody like archelaus saddam will support that they were on the order of tripoli who is officially responsible for the war crimes that have been uncovered and seen specially interested in these the dead the chief commander of the forces of after that to see him being an elected as the head of this interim
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government and the next months would have been too much to swallow so there is that relief i think the group that the 4 that have been elected. sort of that are not a controversial that knock down not seen as divisive they can deal with all of it and they're going to reach out to all over most of the destructions of libyan political and. tribal and regional parts and in a way that. sense maybe their job can be can be easier however i think what happened yesterday is only a small step a step possibly and hopefully in the right that action but it's not it's not the end result is not the final solution and i tell you one thing. having been part of these cannot process in 2015 and the way the d.n.a. was announced then i think the way that this government was was reached yesterday was fun but there was
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a transparent process at least there was there were there were elections we have seen up ballot box which is very symbolic for libyans who have only seen guns and resized and the last few years and although they elected it was only a small group of $75.00 and $2.00 of dads of them were had ticked by the u n nevertheless it is an electoral process and it is guns part and it is an election and it is a sign and a symbol of what libyans want to see and the coming years and decades in china and as will the rival governments and the warring parties actually respect this new interim government well based on historical precedent no of course i'm an. explanation of the sort of process i mean that was the design of a government of national accord it was formally called the unity government but they couldn't necessarily use that some of the time and essentially that was literally government was supposed to be for and between 12 and 18 months but of the dragged on for 5 years because it was refused and rejected by i got us a lot the chief of of the parliament in the east and his. at it after the commander
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of the lid in the national army so i think based on press that it's going to be very difficult. to see how we go forward because in no uncertain terms this deal is a loss for after and it's a loss because he has a very specific goal and a very strong specific structure in mind as to how this process should have ended and it does relate to the last 4 or 5 years of diplomacy between the n.s.a. and between the general in tripoli and that was specifically to the jna and then at the military level and have had a bit after at the helm of the un and there but in order to preserve that structure it was a reconfiguration of the presidential count. the presence but all that is also the supreme commander of the armed forces and it can temper change and alter it structures and it can also reappoint it's had cleared after so their main candidate was i get us out who had appointed kind of after in 2015 in march doesn't the 15 and also structured is tribal the glue that holds it together now the
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unknown. and they may have to go to a plan because i am of them and if he was he is a member of the east is from there and i get the eastern part of libya he is not the 1st candidate and i think because of the the earliness of this was still in the . unknown but that my problem for them and i suspect given the last 5 years of their rejection of the last presidential council unless they have in a configuration that suits them we could be back at square one it could be a very long 12 months well again what are the biggest and most immediate challenges that this new interim government is going to face. well i would see it 1st the new presidential council and the government of national unity could be a very positive step if the house of representatives and the high council of state confirm it then non-elected seraj governmental stepanek lean of that enjoyed as you indicated there is a myriad of problems which remains just a few of them but in time being to chip in to see comes from the elected levy a pretty good balance for of these could change between
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a couple of weeks they've asked of me to be but is under debate you know he was the head of the leap in investment development holding company on the got off and he was allegedly involved in corruption money laundering financing of the brother who would fight and so on and so on regardless if the fees this is true or not it's all a public perception and other important one is the party is not represented in the presidential council we see both of you have been if the government the east doesn't really be represented who is in the future they're pretty good representation of these so you're not like us in the pot from 2 to eric also doesn't really feel represented we have now 5 bodies we've got and says they'll be f. the presidential council the government each hour in the high council of state the legal framework put the elections he's anchia who needs to agree on it so much will depend on how debate it broaches the problem and probably most important how he
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will try to win the trust of the of us he's could go through to come the composition of the government and to talk of equal situations he will i would say probably reach out to to govern the rates and the municipalities to achieve this we see in the next few weeks so my let me ask you how likely is it that elections will actually happen as they're supposed to in december and also is it likely that we'll see a constitutional referendum before then. well i think the constitutional referendum is a bit but is that a little bit problematic because simply the draft which was hammered out in 2017 by an elected body of 60. there are certain groups in libya i think very important groups of ethnic minorities like the i'm a z that 2 out of the double and some federal system that used to have serious concerns about this this draft and they have been demanding that this draft can't
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should be reopened and address there's concerns are that there is a much wider consensus among the libyan society to go forward with this with prostitution so maybe we don't why step is to actually believe the draft constitution on the side and go ahead and elect a new parliament maybe for 4 years and allow that parliament to revisit that constitutional draft and see if they can work out an understanding with these important groups which have a concern about the constitution as far as the elections are concerned if there is an international will and international pressure for elections to take place it is possible for them to take place specially and that was to play be aware almost 70 percent of the population are residing and or 70 percent of the relation are totally out of the control of how to run his militias and his forces so and we have seen in the last 6 months municipal elections that were carried out in misrata and
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little in tripoli in other areas which went relatively smooth and transparent and even those who doubted that is out there went to the court and do what they're going to. do but the right decision to maybe do recount up to carry out these elections again so there is a transparency there is a culture that's taking place in libya to actually go about doing elections and try to ensure that there. transplant so if it's done at the local level it can be done at the bottom and petty and level as a matter of course security is important supporting the election commission which is a sovereign commission in libya and i think it simply summarized confirmed that he's given them all the budget they needed 50000000 libyan did not and all the support they need supporting that commission's important because it is the commission that needs to oversee these elections and carry them out not because big question is can
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we carry out but i'm intending to elections and the east and the south where deadly percent of the libyan population are residing will have and because militias allowed going to military elections to take place does he really believe in and elections and democracy what we know he doesn't believe in elections and democracy we know his discourse is all about military approach and one man rule but can't be enough but he's an up and international pressure out on how to actually not to interfere and to and now these elections to take place and possibly encounter some of his loyalists and supporters to take place and to take but who knows and actions as well especially especially in areas under it but as controlled and the east and in the south but i don't have better important factor is that the libyan electorate in general the libyan society they want to see genuine improvement and such a kind of a conditions and security and they want to see a light at the end of the tunnel before they can and do the ethically check bought
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and maybe felt that elections because the uptake in 2014 was very low compared to 2012 so we need to make it worthwhile for the libyan cities not the average libyan citizen to say yes elections are important it's whether ticket but because they are going to frame our future and give us hope 4 footed by these so-called combination of indigenous factors that have to be right and the national pressure to ensure that the. as elections take place but we definitely need fresh elections we need the new about a limit to do away with this dichotomy we have had for the last 6 years i take your mouth to platinum in some governments and i'm sorry i'm sorry to interrupt you but i actually want to ask us to expand on a point that you were making honest let me ask you from your perspective would were 24 have to allow elections to take place in the parts of the country that he's in control of. in the east of the country. those forces kidnapped a female parliamentarian mr hanson to go in july. seemed to she went out publicly
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against it others were in tripoli and i certainly think i was to the deeper question but it's a question here is that over the last decade since the fall of my military there are centuries to reconcilable visions of the states that's why we have these parliaments which is what we have to have been astray since 2 governments 2 very different military structures in the east in the west of the country essentially these structures are at the essence about have the states should be shaped and i think in that respect democracy at the ballot level is a real problem for to live up to when it means having a genuine choice about the shape of the state in the structures of the states but i didn't that's why the next 12 months are important because essentially there was one track that we're forgetting from this conversation the military track the unification of the rival militaries on the ground under the chin a and under debt and if the structures that after 6 to imbed and his backers that have essentially helped him over the last several years and in the u.a.e.
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and france and russia if they seek to really stick their feets and over the next 8 months it wouldn't really matter whether or not it's just about elections the 2nd factor would be how do we have a an army that is essentially under the control of a civilian presidency how do we make sure that it's responsive that it's this neutral that it respects and subservient to that next elected ruler and i think there's a very very dangerous part of this ongoing state building project but i think that's and because that's what's going to define the political character of the states and i think there is ready to pass a test this next interim government has a real real test and engages with the libyan national army and has a real test and carries out having gauges where the parliament is under control of the libyan national army get us a lot and it also has this major major problem is that emma you know under the bed here that we're talking about which is that there are 20000 foreign mercenaries on libya's ground many of them who have just miss. a deadline the past the mid january to remove the foreign forces i'm a draw you know as a result of the permanent ceasefire agreement was signed the geneva on the on the
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20th or 23rd of october 2020 so there were so many little issues there that are niggling and i think that those give you a glimmer in the sense of how difficult it's going to be to push wolfgang i saw you nodding so i wanted to see if you wanted to jump in and add to it and us were saying but i also want to ask you about a point that he was making which is what is going to happen when it comes to these foreign fighters in libya and what about the international players who are involved backing one side or the other in the libyan conflict now that this interim government is going to be in place what's going to happen with them when it's all about the interests as long as they international major policy more than libya like turkey like ichi of like russia see the interest of the g. interests insured and guaranteed they could be willing to eavesdrop a major issue about eventually after all would be something like confidence building and put these confidence building it is important that this cease fire if the currency's fire gets ensured this means that a u.n.
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plan by deploying an international civilian a monitoring force really comes to the ground and for such an international monitoring force it will be important that they have properly staffed in the quipped to provide a realistic and real picture of what's going on on the ground in other words if such an international monitoring mission consists just of that you have 51 it was kompany bedrolls of the use of the west on the longest he's fair line we can forget about it if these international monitoring force receive support by let's say european union operation yemeni if they can kill equipment we've set the lights be precautious since aircraft fly outside outside of the libyan yes by space you feel it on the intelligence and so on they will be able to provide the a realistic picture of what's going on on the ground. peaceful kalf a confidence building this would make it more i'm like the host and host that if you break out again and if this is unlikely i would see
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a need to keep turkish troops and russians and others in libya would be not. to my let me ask you the un secretary general has called on all libyan and international parties to respect the interim agreement i want to also ask you about the international parties involved in libya right now do you expect that these actors are going to actually respect the interim agreement whether in 2015 when we had set out beam and then we signed it all of the ambassadors on some of the foreign ministers of all of the actors in libya want to death present and they gave them some water you know lip service yes we support this agreement we support the new government and it kept doing that over the table for august egypt and what ideas the russians the chinese the americans the british they thought everybody was there and they all want to give support but we know that some key players over the last 5 years under the table were actually undermining us got the green men and they did
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exactly the opposite then they were fueling the war giving half their all of the what they needed despite everything and in 2019 again we weren't going to have a dumbass meeting which by the own which was supposed to reach i find it but did it get agreement does well and do it 10 days early and i have to spoil that so the question is well what are they going to do now out of that with already have statements yesterday and this morning you know being glib sefer saying yes this is a bit of the new the new a buddy of the new executive power in libya but under the table out of it going to carry on what they have been doing the last few years and give and the mining applaud their own narrow interest an agenda that is that the key question however the dynamics have changed a lot in libya that the national players the libya and get influence as jason i think now over the last 2 years it is the. and ted q i've become to keep the players at the expense possibly of france and italy and so i'm also the new
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american administration could make a difference now if we have an alignment between the key players let's say between the united states that keep russia and egypt realignment about supporting this new government about supporting the peaceful track by saying that we should not allow libyans to go back to what i by the way i don't believe after has the decision today to just have the war i think that's out of his hands have to come not to restart the war unless the russians agree to it and the egyptians agree to it and i don't think they will they see that interest not more serve and the political track down but other than the military so if we have these alignments between these measure players in libya then yes i think international will and international support for this new executive but it was supposed to be there only for a year or possibly a year and a half can make a difference can achieve at least some of the objectives that had been set out for it but if the international community to carry on their divisions and carry on
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doing a book or see and be a jewel of a strategy of supporting over the table and undermining under the table that i'm afraid to be a lot of the same and libya more division and more conflict and just deepening of the stuff doesn't it of the people policeman so in a sense his remarks and i honestly say this i'm sorry i'm certain interrupt you it's the we're going out about a minute left i just want to ask one more question to us real quick and how are the libyan people perceiving all of this are are they hopeful right now. i think it's very difficult to tell when professed to be a representative of the libyan people themselves that i was i assume and hope based on the things that we've seen over the last several days that are holding their breath and i imagine that the school is just optimism at best but that's the left in this we shouldn't we shouldn't call it too early i think the major actors here have acted it's you know in bad faith over the last several years the last time we were at a negotiation table and but in general 2020 the very same actors that as drama has
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mentioned paid lip service to respect in the arms embargo violated it during the meeting and it's the libya specifically the u.a.e. and others like for like russia and egypt but also turkey then also assume that this was their moment then since then passed the displacement and deliver their own troops there was a precedent for this we shouldn't call it too early but cautious optimism the best all right we've run out of time to we're going to have to leave the conversation there thanks so much to all our guests dramatical motley and s. and gaumont the and wolfgang. and thank you too for watching you can see the program again any time by visiting our website at 0 dot com and for further discussion go to our facebook page that's facebook dot com forward slash a.j. inside story you can also join the conversation on twitter our handle is at a.j. inside story for me mohammed gentleman the whole team here by phone now.
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to own their own. tell us all in a case where us for you compensated civilians when we listen to the only music you hear is the only the most beautiful music in the world is silence we meet with global news makers and talk about the stories that matter although just 0. calm and make sure you're not hyping the situation be part of the debate my main characters are women when no topic is off the table there was in the last allow child marriage to happen legally esearch basically archaic walls dads often legitimize them grega was pedophile. online jumping to the quick section and meeting to be part of
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i'm fully back to bill in doha with a look at our main stories here on al-jazeera tens of thousands of people have protested in capital in the largest demonstrations against the military coup so far is the only a week after the democratically elected government was ousted by the military grounds in young gone a calling for deposed leader on sunday to be freed despite the risk of arrest she's been charged with violating import export last straw in syria is monitoring the situation from malaysia's capital column or well as the 2nd successive day of street demonstrations in yangon and we're seeing an even bigger crowd than on saturdays in a protest of strong.
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